


Eyes Wide

by Vialana



Series: Hope [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Pining Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 20:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11298168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vialana/pseuds/Vialana
Summary: Keith actually isn't half bad at this whole leader thing. Lance finds it difficult to hide how smitten he is.





	Eyes Wide

**Author's Note:**

> Here. Have some fluff and the boys being cute!

For once, they attended a distress call for a planet untouched by Galra and managed to help without any significant damage to themselves or the inhabitants. Allura was so impressed with the whole mission that she immediately agreed to attend a celebration in their honour. It had been so long since they had anything to celebrate that not even Keith—far too serious these days and even more worn about the edges—could argue (or wanted to).

There was a brief awkward moment, as there often was these days, when their leader inquired after the missing Black Lion and paladin. Rumours had been building for months. It had soon become quite obvious that the Black Lion hadn’t been seen for some time. Keith stepped in before Allura could wave the question away with a vague but mostly positive answer.

“The Black Paladin was instrumental in taking down Zarkon. Surely a feat like that deserves some recovery time?”

As was becoming the norm, any mention of Zarkon’s defeat immediately inspired a quiet awe and they quickly moved on from the missing paladin to ask about Voltron’s other heroic deeds. It was quite an effective way to avoid actually answering questions about Shiro without raising suspicion.

Lance was impressed. A few months ago, Keith would have skulked around the edges of the gathering, looking surprised and vaguely panicked when someone addressed him directly. Now he stood confidently in his armour at Allura's side on a raised dais and smiled politely as the alien leader complimented his battle prowess in front of a huge audience.

It was … an inspiring sight.

Cheers erupted as the leader finished his speech and the party got properly underway.

Keith glanced over at Lance, standing to the side of the dais with Hunk and Pidge, his polite diplomatic smile replaced with a tired but excited grin. Lance grinned back automatically, heart pounding faster as it always did when Keith so much as looked at him.

Lance watched as a very confident alien girl caught the distracted Keith by his arm and dragged him towards the mass of people dancing in a wide open square in front of the town hall where the ceremony took place. He laughed when Keith turned to the team, silently begging for anyone to intercede. 

“Have fun,” Allura called, waving at him before letting the leader escort her to a table full of prominent citizens. Coran followed, musing about the possibility of showing off a few moves himself later.

Hunk and Pidge followed Allura's lead, leaving Keith to his fate with cheery waves before moving over to the tables stacked with food.

“Lance!”

Lance sighed and walked over to Keith and his pouting dance partner. The way his face lit up was beautiful. Lance almost hated to break his heart.

Lance clapped him on the back just as he was about to speak.

“Listen to Allura. Relax and enjoy yourself.”

Keith’s partner didn’t need any further encouragement, laughing and pulling Keith into a spin that had him stumbling.

“You are so dead next training session!” Keith promised once he had recovered from the move.

Lance laughed and shot him a salute before wandering off to find Coran. 

Coran always had the good stuff.

 

* * *

 

Not an hour later, Lance was happily tearing it up on the dance floor. He recognised a few of the aliens dancing with him, including the girl who dragged Keith off earlier. Keith had managed to escape her clutches somehow but Lance wasn’t complaining. She was a great dancer. So was her friend. And her friend’s boyfriend. And his friend. And everyone really. They were great and fun and all had really nice smiles.

Lance may have had a few too many of Coran’s specialties. And a few of the celebratory drinks offered to him as one of the guests of honour. And he also may have forgotten to eat anything.

So, maybe he was a little drunk.

That might have been the reason why the minute he spotted Keith making his way back from a conversation with Allura and some of the more fancily dressed aliens he yelled out Keith’s name and waved his hands high enough that no one could miss him, much less his embarrassed leader who was trying to pretend to be a part of the scenery in the hope Lance would just give up. Ha! It was like he didn’t know Lance at all.

When Lance’s companions joined in with the waving, Keith sighed and hung his head, making his way over to them to much cheering. Lance was delighted to note that Keith could blush almost as dark a red as his armour trim.

“Definitely in for a beating next training session.”

“Worth it.” Lance kept twisting and swaying along to the music. He’d just managed to get the hang of the odd beat these aliens preferred. “Come on. Join the fun.” Lance reached for him but Keith pulled away easily.

Lance pouted. “Please?”

“You’re drunk Lance.”

“So you should be a good leader and stay and make sure nothing happens to me, right?”

Keith shook his head. “No, I’m just gonna cut you off and yell at Coran if he slips you anything else.”

“Or, you could dance with me.” Lance tried to grab him again, but Keith slipped from his grip. He tried a few more times, getting more frustrated as Keith kept escaping. “Would it really be that bad?” he asked, trying not to show that he was starting to get upset.

Clearly, he was very bad at hiding his emotions while drunks because Keith winced, looking guilty all of a sudden, and avoided Lance’s pleading gaze. “Maybe. I don’t really dance.”

“That’s okay, I’m really good. We’ll cancel each other out.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” But Keith was looking at him again and not trying to pull away.

“One dance,” Lance begged, taking a hesitant step closer. Keith didn’t step away. He took another and put his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith sighed and smiled at Lance. “One.”

Lance grinned, unable to reign in his euphoria at having Keith in his arms. He pulled Keith close enough to smell the char from the skewers of mystery meat they’d had on offer at the buffet. Lance had seen Keith going back several times during the night for more.

Rather than keeping Keith too close and risking an embarrassing emotional response, Lance positioned them the way he’d seen other couples on the dance floor—Keith’s hands on Lance’s hips and Lance’s left hand around Keith’s neck with his right on Keith’s shoulder to lead. It was opposite to traditional Earth dancing positions but Lance was quick to get the hang of it.

Keith swallowed, muscles tense under Lance’s hands. “Lance … I don’t——”

Just then a new song started, heavy drums with a quick beat. The aliens sent up a cheer and a few started singing along with the band. All of a sudden the dance floor was full of movement and Lance and Keith got swept up in the motion and excitement.

Soon enough Keith relaxed, letting himself get pulled around by Lance. Lance was laughing and trying not to let his hands wander too much, though he couldn’t help letting his thumb brush against the soft hair at the nape of Keith’s neck. A few times other couples bumped into them, laughing along with Lance as they watched the paladins fumble along to the music.

It was fun. And it seemed like Keith agreed too. His smile was wider than any Lance had seen before and his eyes shone with delight as he spun around when Lance led. He leaned into Lance’s grip and didn’t seem to care at all that Lance was ignoring the concept of personal space. Sometimes, Keith was the one to draw close enough that Lance’s breath caught and his heart beat faster.

This was clearly the best idea Lance had ever had, drunk or sober.

Then Keith’s hair started to glow.

Keith didn’t seem to notice, still smiling. But it wasn’t just his hair now. It was the other aliens around them too, and they didn’t seem to notice anything odd either. The stars above looked far too bright and the music was suddenly too loud—the drum beat echoed through Lance’s bones, making him shudder. He stopped dancing, Keith bumping into him as he stumbled to a halt.

“Lance, are you okay?”

Keith’s voice was faint, like it was muffled by thick glass. But he was right in front of Lance and staring at him in concern.

Lance tried to speak but couldn’t say anything. He just shook his head and tried not to fall as the world spun.

Keith grabbed his arms and started pulling him from the mass of people. It became easier to breathe and think once he was away from the dance floor, but the lights were still too bright and the music was starting to give him a headache.

And Keith’s hair was still glowing.

“Let’s get you back to the ship.”

Lance nodded again, slumping into Keith’s grip as they started walking back towards the castle ship.

Halfway there, he found his voice again. “’m sorry.”

Keith squeezed his shoulders. “What for?”

“We were havin’ fun.”

“We were, but I was getting kinda tired anyway. Plus, I only promised one dance.”

“But we di’nt get to finish.”

“We can finish another time.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, Lance. I promise.”

Lance hummed contentedly and closed his eyes, trusting Keith to keep him safe.

 

* * *

 

Despite his easy compliance on the walk back to the castle, once Lance entered his room he became an absolute menace. He kept tripping as he pulled himself free of his armour and Keith had to practically undress him. Luckily he didn’t have as much trouble putting his pyjamas on, though Keith still had to catch him once before he almost hit his head on the bedpost. But then Lance tried to insist on completing his night time skincare regime and Keith had to pin him to the bed and swear that a single night wouldn’t do anything terrible to his skin and that if it did he would give Lance a whole week free of training.

By the time the lights were off and Lance was settled under his bedclothes,  _ Keith _ was the one so exhausted he felt like he could fall asleep right there, standing up even.

As it was, he allowed himself a brief moment of respite to sit on the floor by the head of Lance’s bed and let Lance pet his hair. It seemed to be doing the trick of settling him down.

(The fact that it also felt really nice was absolutely not a factor in Keith’s decision not to get up and go to his own room straight away.)

“Y’know, you don’t completely suck as a leader.”

Keith snorted. “Gee, thanks.”

“Serious though.” Lance tried to sit up and Keith put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down. Lance struggled a bit then relented with a huff. “I just mean, I know Shiro just dumped this on you and you have like zero experience and you kinda seem like you don’t even like people sometimes——”

“Really, Lance, you can stop complimenting me any time now.”

Lance reached out to smack his hand against Keith’s face and made a shushing sound. Keith was too stunned to initially react to the fingers pressing against his lips.

“I’m just saying, you really stepped up when it counted.”

Keith stopped trying to tug Lance’s hand away and Lance let his fingers drag down Keith’s face as pulled his hand back.

“I think it’s good you’re sort of talking about him now,” Lance continued. His voice was still slurred, but more because of tiredness than the effects of alcohol now. “I know it’s been hard, I know you two were close.”

“Lance …” Keith’s voice was a pained whisper in the dark room.

Lance dropped his voice to match the quiet tone. “I just wish you could trust the rest of us as much.”

“I do.” Keith protested. He felt Lance’s hand reaching for him again. He reached up to squeeze Lance’s fingers. “I do,” he repeated. “I couldn’t have done this without you. Without any of you.”

“I helped?” Lance turned his head and Keith could make out his hopeful expression, even in the darkness.

Keith smiled and leaned up to pat Lance’s hair the same way he had Keith’s earlier. “Yeah, you definitely helped.”

Lance closed his eyes and relaxed, head still tilted towards Keith’s touch. “Good. Means you’re not allowed to go away.” He pulled Keith’s hand, still tightly grasped in his own.

Keith tried to pull it back. “Lance. C’mon.”

“Stay.”

The quiet almost desperate request stilled Keith’s motions. Lance was squeezing his hand so tight it almost hurt.

Keith settled back down on the floor by Lance’s head. “Okay.”

Lance smiled and his grip relaxed a little, but Keith didn’t pull away from his hold. He just watched as Lance’s breath slowed and evened out as he fell asleep.

Once Lance was out, he could have left—should have left. Instead, Keith grabbed Lance’s oversized jacket from the end of his bed, pulled it on over his armour, and settled into a more comfortable position on the floor and closed his eyes.

Lance had asked him to stay, after all. He couldn’t well break that promise either.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on Tumblr: [ladyvialana](https://ladyvialana.tumblr.com/)


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